Locally produced Travers specials provide something for everyone

Three of the five local news stations devoted resources to producing half-hour prerace Travers specials, all airing Friday night. Depending on your tastes, there was a little something for everyone.

At 7 p.m. WNYT (Ch. 13) offered “Travers 2008,” which basically was sports director Rodger Wyland with two in-studio analysts — John Pricci of HorseRaceInsider.com and David Grening of the Daily Racing Form — breaking down the race. It was supplemented by video and sound bytes, although it was pretty straightforward in its approach — suitable for the hard-core race fan.

In the same time window WXXA (Ch. 23) aired “Travers Stakes Special,” which featured sports director Rich Becker live at the track (nice touch). The show mixed some analysis with several interesting features in a fast-paced half hour. There were a couple of technical glitches and the final segment was rushed (the drawback of going live), but it was a good mix for all types of race fans.

Capital News 9 had anchors Joe Calderone and Marissa Jacques at the track — although not live, unless the sun sets really late at Saratoga — for “Travers: The Tradition” at 8:30 p.m. Other than a rundown of the field, which each of the stations opened their shows with, the Capital News 9 version was a package of well-edited features, capturing the interest of casual fans.

Most significantly, the three stations should be commended for producing some quality local programming. It’s obviously to me that WRGB (Ch. 6) and WTEN (Ch. 10) — particularly the latter — don’t have the same commitment to sports of their competition.